Discuss 3.7 BBK Shorty Header Installation on AllFordMustangs.com, the place for Mustang enthusiasts.

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Man, what a nightmare. I have absolutely no idea how anyone was able to do this by themselves, but I commend you. I had a car buddy helping me and it was still a mess. Long story short, we did everything by the book and my driver header is on without two of the bolts because they didn't fit because of the design. We managed to get 5/6 of the passenger header bolts on, but since the BBKs aren't threaded where they connect to the cats, the bolts didn't line up once we FINALLY managed to get the cats to meet the header.

So, my car has an exhaust leak that sounds like a dragster, it's just one cylinder I think, maybe two. My passenger side cats are being held on by one makeshift smaller bolt with washers on both ends, since the BBK holes wouldn't line up and we had no other options at the time.

I used tips and guides from other people, including dousing EVERY bolt with PB blaster and letting it sit, removing battery and tray. We did it with only one ratchet extension, so that's definitely partly our fault but did everything else people recommended. I'm going to need to either find very short bolts with the same threading to fill the missing holes on the headers, or just take this to a shop to have them clean up the mess.

Oh boy I just got mine in the mail and not sure if I should risk putting them on but I feel confident and able to do so. It says it should only take an hour

Trust me, there is no single person in the world who could do it in one hour. It's a 1-2 day job solo and a full day with a friend, depending on how many issues you have. It's doable with jack, stands and a LOT of patience but it is not simple.

i did it by myself just under 4 hours.jack and jack stands
hand tools no air main tool was 13 mm ratcheting craftsman wrench
piece of cake

Are you a mechanics? That's impressive man. Maybe you got lucky and didnt have the studs come out of the block, most of mine did along with the nuts. I bought some bolts to try to fit in the rest of the holes, though one is clogged by a weld I think.

i also had a hell of a time putting them on mine, but i never had the issue with the studs being wrong, only real issue i had was having to drop the exhaust to mount everything together...they sound great but def was a hell of a time to put on...def recommend using a garage with a lift to do it....jack stands and wrenchs were not the best expecially getting to the studs from the collectors to the headers....had to makeshift an extension that was about 2 foot long to get to them....lol

I know to all that read anything I posted was
1) Make sure all the studs are removed from the nuts and re-installed in the head before putting the headers on
2) Make sure you put the bottom nut on #3 (Last one on the passenger side lower stud) before tightening any of the other nuts
3) install the Studs for the Mid pipe in the header before you put the header on.
4) 5 Nuts on both sides can be done from the top with the box end or the ratchet box end between the tubes, #3 bottom was a 1/4 turn wrench flipper done from the top and #6 bottom was done from the bottom or the car
Your leak is in whatever nuts you do not have on, the bad thing is the studs will not go back in with the header on so it will need to come off. Also although they are a ***** to line back up the Mid Pipe does fit.
I also did mine in less than 4 hours by myself the first time and a bit over 3 the second, but I did remove my Stock Manifolds with an air wrench, and I also just used a 13 MM Box end and my battery and tray never came out.
BTW, I just used a 5MM socket on the studs with the 13 MM wrench holding the nut.